Saint Paul was famously converted on the road to Damascus. My own, rather different, conversion took place a few summers ago on the road to Dartmoor. Out on a cycling tour, I had noticed on my map a beautifully situated campsite. I pedalled over one last hill after a full day on the moors, looked down . . . and my heart sank. Far from the bijou glade of my imagination, it gave the impression of having been laid out on the lines of a particularly unfortunate internment camp. With evening fast drawing on, I was about to resign myself to my fate when I caught sight of a handwritten sign pinned to a tree. It bore an arrow and the simple legend "Camping".

Ten minutes later I was putting my tent up on the back lawn of a gorgeous farmhouse. Birds flitted around me, an apple tree offered the prospect of free pudding and I was surrounded on three sides by flowerbeds bursting with colour. It was heaven. From that moment on I was a believer in tiny campsites.

As a travel writer who spends at least two months of every year in a tent, I began to look around for a guide to Britain's best diminutive camping grounds. It quickly became apparent that no such book existed, and that if I wanted one I'd have to write it myself. So it was that I cycled more than 2,000 miles to winkle out 75 of the finest petite campsites in England, Scotland and Wales, all of them just one acre or less.

Gratifyingly, because I was writing the book, I got to put in all the information that I really want to see when camping but which so few campsite guides actually include – such as the opening hours of the local shop, the serving times of the nearest decent pub and whether you'll need a clutch of 20p pieces for the showers.

But, best of all, I was able to spend night after night in beautiful, peaceful places, each one with its own character, each one a far cry from the glorified car parks that so many campsites have become.

ENGLAND

Broad Meadow House, Charlestown, Cornwall

Broad Meadow House, Cornwall PR

At the end of a back street just above the harbour, a couple of tiny fields command fabulous sea views out to a headland sporting the golden flash of a wheat field. And, given that a maximum of a dozen campers are allowed on the site, there's never a crush. But whether you stay in one of the site's three deluxe tents or bring your own, you must order a Broad Meadow breakfast – brought to you in a basket with a freshly-made smoothie. Yum.• Open May-September; adults £9 (with own tent), 2-12s £4.50; deluxe tents from £20pp including breakfast (two-night minimum), 2-12s from £16; 01726 76636, broadmeadowhouse.co.uk

Spyway Inn, Spyway, Dorset

Is this the smallest pub campsite in Britain? Probably. Take more than 15 paces in any direction and you'll have left it. Happily, size is not its only charm. There's a cracking view across to the Iron Age fort on Chilcombe Hill while, in the foreground, an appropriately minuscule stream tinkles along the foot of the lawn. For dinner, take a 10-second stroll to the 18th-century pub, whose mouthwatering menu has earned it a place in the Good Pub Guide.• Open all year; £5pp; 01308 485250, spyway-inn.co.uk

Cookham Lock, Cookham, Berkshire

Three cheers for whoever it was at the Environment Agency who came up with the idea of allowing camping at certain Thames locks. You must get to this one by foot, bicycle or non-motorised boat but, when you do you'll be rewarded with a pitch on Sashes island beneath the towering Cliveden cliffs. Birdlife abounds – expect a visit from kingfishers, red kites, parakeets and all manner of geese.• Open April-September; £5.50 per pitch; 01628 520752, visitthames.co.uk

Welsummer, nr Lenham, Kent

Can't decide whether you fancy camping in a field or in a wood? Problem solved. At the laid-back Welsummer site you can take up quarters alongside the free-roaming chickens in one of two tiny fields or head for the beech trees and peg your tent out in a deep dark copse. Sing-songs around the campfire are actively encouraged, so bring along your Simon and Garfunkel (or Oasis) songbook.• Open April-October; tents £12-£20; equipped pre-erected bell tent £45, adults £3, 3-13s £1; 01622 844048, welsummer.moonfruit.co.uk

Quarryfield Camping, Tarporley, Cheshire

Almost certainly the only campsite in Britain located within a red sandstone quarry. The quarrymen have long gone, leaving a discreet tree-lined bowl. There's room for 20 pitches but the owners never let it get more than half full "so that people have room to play ball games". Guests have access to a stash of equipment to do just that, while less energetic campers can borrow a book from the mini library.• Open March-October; from £10 (two adults, two children); 07720 664106, quarryfieldcamping.co.uk

Wild Boar Inn, Wincle, Cheshire

Only 30-odd miles from Quarryfield, above, but inhabiting a different world, the Wild Boar Inn sits high on a pass between Congleton and Buxton, and is so remote that water is supplied from its own bore hole. The views of Peak District and Cheshire hills from the field behind the pub are quite special, as are the Wild Boar's cheap-as-chips, all-day breakfasts.• Open all year; adults from £5, children from £2.50; 01260 227219, thewildboar.co.uk

Dalegarth guesthouse and campsite, Buttermere, Cumbria

Dalegarth, Cumbria PR

Buttermere provides the sort of picture-perfect scene you'd expect to see on a tin of biscuits. Dalegarth's three tiny lawn terraces are only a two-minute amble through woods to its shimmering shoreline. Grab a delicious packed lunch from young owners James and Kelly and go and find out why the lake was fellwalker and author Alfred Wainwright's favourite.• Open all year; £5pp; 01768 770233, dalegarthguesthouseandcampsite.com

Wold Farm, Flamborough, East Yorkshire

A site for lovers of open fields and big skies. Wold Farm stands in wondrous isolation on Flamborough head, with uninterrupted views to two lighthouses. Stroke the farm's donkeys, help feed the sheep, or take the private footpath to the cliffs to look for puffins, gannets and skuas. Come the evening, there are no fewer than 13 pubs within walking distance, so do pace yourself.• Open all year; £10 per tent (for up to four people); 01262 850536, woldfarmcampsite.tk

Park Farm, Kildale, North Yorkshire

The possessor of my very favourite campsite view. From Park Farm it's roughly 50 miles west to Tan Hill and the Yorkshire Dales and, on a clear day, you can see absolutely everything in between – a joyous swoop of fields, trees and yet more hills. The campsite is a tiny triangle of sloping grassland speckled with a few cooking-apple trees. And for those allergic to guy ropes and groundsheets there's a YHA camping barn here too.• Open all year; £4pp, £7 in the barn, £126 the whole barn; 01642 722847, kildalebarn.co.uk

WALES

Eastern Slade Farm, Oxwich, Swansea

There has been a campsite in this field on the Gower peninsula for some 60 years and, with its majestic views across the Bristol Channel to north Devon, it's easy to see why. The vibe here is extremely convivial, and the owners will often sit around an open fire of an evening sharing a drink with the campers. Meanwhile, the rock pools of Slade Bay are a carefree hop and a skip away.• Open Easter-October; £9-£15 per tent depending on size; 01792 391374, no website

Lone Wolf campsite, Aberdulais, Neath

There are two small "normal" camping fields at Lone Wolf, but cross an all-but-defunct single-track railway line and you enter a much wilder world. Here you can pitch your tent or string up your tarp among ancient Welsh oaks and wild yellow archangel plants as the river Dulais rushes by. Open fires and bushcraft activities are actively encouraged, although there are loos, showers and a kitchen close by if it all gets too wild.• Open April-September; adults £6, 3-16s £3; 01639 643204, lonewolfcampsite.co.uk

Silver Birches, Betws Garmon, Gwynedd

A campsite for grown-ups. Aside from the extremely civilised facilities and the book swap, there is the small matter of children under 15 being barred. Mynydd Mawr (big mountain) dominates the skyline, and the Snowdon Ranger track is less than two miles away. The owners have also produced a folder of walks, illustrated with their own photographs, so pack those hiking boots.• Open March-October; first person £6, then £3 each; 01286 650707, silver-birches.org.uk

SCOTLAND

The Wee Camp Site, Lochcarron, Ross-shire

Perched on a glorious slope above Lochcarron village, the Wee Camp Site is a series of miniature terraces. The upper ones enjoy a glorious vista over the loch to copious waterfalls, the mountains of the Killilan forest and the snowy peak of Sguman Coinntich. Climbers can spend their days bagging the dozen local Munros while, for the evenings, the snug Lochcarron Bistro beckons.• Open April-October; £4pp; 01520 722898, no website

Ken Bridge Hotel, New Galloway, Dumfries & Galloway

The Ken Bridge Hotel, Scotland PR

The five elegant spans of the eponymous bridge stand just 10 miles from the source of the wonderfully named Water of Ken. Beside it stands a lonely 18th-century coaching inn whose lovely, tiny beer garden extends into a small riverside field. This, it turns out, is the campsite, and the combination of river (watch for otters!), welcoming pub and surrounding hills makes it a little cracker.• Open all year; tent and two adults £13; 01644 420211,

Badrallach, Dundonnell, Ross-shire

Perched on the Scoraig peninsula by the shores of a sea loch, Badrallach is one of Scotland's remotest and most picturesque campsites. There's a small open field here and a handful of pitches artfully hidden away in the gorse, where you can keep an eye out for red squirrels, pine martens, red deer and eagles. Mountain bikes, blokarts (beach karts with sails), kayaks and a Shetland sail boat are all for hire on site and there's a wonderful gas-lit bothy to hide in should the weather turn. Not that it ever does in Scotland.• Open all year; adults £4, 2-16s £2, bothy £6pp; 01854 633281, badrallach.com